


Great Eagerness, Slight Skill

by twoseas



Category: Stranger Things (TV 2016)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Blow Jobs in a Car, Canon Typical Content, Getting Together, Happy Ending, He is just there to establish Steve’s bisexuality, I kind of fade to black on it, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, M/M, a general Billy Hargrove warning, but it absolutely happens, so don’t give him too much thought
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-25
Updated: 2020-07-25
Packaged: 2021-03-05 22:41:17
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,330
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25512982
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/twoseas/pseuds/twoseas
Summary: The evolution of Billy Hargrove’s infatuation with Steve Harrington. From reputation to fall from grace to the summer of 1985 and those absolutely necessary Scoops shorts.Featuring an obsessed Billy, a multifaceted but oblivious Steve, the glossing over of major Hawkins events, and a bet well worth the making.
Relationships: Billy Hargrove & Heather Holloway, Billy Hargrove/Steve Harrington, Robin Buckley & Steve Harrington, Robin Buckley/Heather Holloway
Comments: 22
Kudos: 194





	Great Eagerness, Slight Skill

**Author's Note:**

> I’ve been in the harringrove fandom since season 2, that sweet sweet 80s homoerotic antagonism really got to me, and I’m so happy to contribute something at last! 
> 
> Takes place in an alternate universe where Billy worked on himself, his terrible father got mind flayed instead, and sometimes Steve Harrington being a dork in shorts can make all the difference.

**The Reputation**

The first Billy heard about Steve Harrington, it was all rumors and gossip. That he threw the best parties. That all the girls wanted him. All the guys wanted to be his friend. That he had the best hair. Coolest clothes. Steve Harrington was the king of the school. 

Well, they could consider Billy’s interest piqued. 

**The Fallen King**

Billy wasn’t stupid. He realized right away that there was a sharp undercurrent to the flattery he heard. A shark like frenzy right beneath the surface. And when he met Steve, heard a little bit more about him in whispers and sneers, Billy realized the king was due for a usurping. 

All the other guys were just too chickenshit to do it themselves. 

Goaded by jokes and jabs from the others that were more savage than friendly, Billy made sure Steve knew who was going to take that crown. 

He just didn’t expect to find it so fun. 

Steve Harrington wasn’t the uppity upper class cock of the walk Billy was expecting from a guy with a silver spoon and comfortable seat at the top of the food chain. He wasn’t as aggressive, wasn’t as arrogant. If anything he seemed distracted. Maybe even sad. But when Billy poked and prodded he got a flash of irritation, a quick bit of fire behind the eyes. And Billy liked it, liked the thrill it shot through him. Liked the way Steve’s eyes felt on him. 

As he stared at Steve in the locker room shower, famous hair soggy and in his face, Billy realized he might have a problem. 

**The Mother Hen**

Billy had to give Harrington some credit, he tried his best to keep Billy from the kids. Steve was just a shit fighter and Billy learned from the best of the worst when it came to being a monster. Steve didn’t really stand a chance.

Harrington was lucky Max was there. She was terrifying as fuck when she was scared and pissed. 

**The Ghost**

After everything, Billy watched Steve recede into the background. He didn’t go to any parties, he wasn’t really around the redneck hillbilly haunts that seemed so popular with the locals. Billy basked in the glow of his easily earned crown and tried not to find the achievement too empty. 

He tried not to feel the guilt and fear of what he was becoming every time a pretty but badly bruised face passed his in the hallway or in a parking lot, gentle eyes cast down at the ground. 

He tried not to pay Steve any attention, more than a little bit aware of what his attention had done to the other man. 

He tried not to see him smile at Nancy Wheeler or that Byers weirdo. 

He tried not to get pissed at the ill humored, jealousy driven barbs tossed out by the Carols and the Tommys. 

He tried. 

But he didn’t succeed all that well. 

Steve Harrington might’ve been ready to disappear. That didn’t mean Billy was ready to let him. 

**The Dork**

With the end of school came the opening of the new mall and a job interview for Billy - being a lifeguard for the community pool was a fantastic excuse to get out of the house, show off his fine form, and save a little cash to get the fuck out of Hawkins.

He totally crushed the interview, to the complete shock of absolutely no one. 

As Billy drove around town in celebration, he happened to pass the house of one of Max’s weird ass friends, the one with the hat. The kid was throwing a backback into his mom’s car, looking like the dweeb he was as he rushed to hug his friends goodbye. 

Summer camp. Lucky fuck. 

Billy would’ve killed to get out of the house and far, far away from his dad for a few weeks when he was the kid’s age. He’d probably kill to manage that now. 

But what really caught Billy’s eyes was something entirely more enviable. 

Steve Harrington was standing off to the side, watching the kids with an expression that was closer to fond and indulgent than it was irritated. Then, after the hat kid was done squeezing the life out of the younger Byers kid, hat kid turned to Steve. 

And then something amazing happened. 

Steve’s expression turned from trying-to-be-annoyed to absolutely delighted. He beamed at the kid and then proceeded to engage him in one of the most ridiculous handshakes (if you could even call something like that a handshake) Billy had ever seen and then hugged the kid goodbye. If Billy didn’t know any better, he would have the thought the two of them were related or something, the goodbye entirely too heartfelt for one between a kid and his occasional babysitter. 

And Steve. Steve Harrington. He was just so uncool. 

That was something Billy never thought he’d call Steve Harrington. Even Steve’s biggest detractors were a little bit in love with him. At no point had anyone called Steve Harrington uncool - they said he lost his touch, they said Nancy Wheeler took his balls, they said how he lost every fight, they all talked about how Steve had lost his stuff. But they never, ever explicitly said that Steve Harrington was uncool. 

But he was. 

He was so fucking lame. 

Billy didn’t even realize how hard he was laughing until he nearly blew through a stop sign. 

Then he got his shit under control and blew through the stop sign purposefully, as the lord intended. 

**The Ice Cream Slinger**

While Billy was busy getting a job that let him yell at jackasses and wear the least amount of socially acceptable clothing, Steve Harrington was apparently getting a job that put him in a sailor outfit. 

Billy was entranced. 

He waited in line with Heather, the two of them staring at the counter for their own reasons. 

Steve and the girl at his side were smiling the fakest customer service smiles Billy had ever seen. It looked like they were in pain. Steve’s hair was crushed by the hat and his soul looked well on its way to following suit. Then he turned his back on the line and Billy got a better view of his ass in those sailor shorts. 

It was the best day of Billy’s miserable life. 

When Steve turned around and caught sight of Billy in his line, his big brown eyes with their long lashes fluttered and his face took on an embarrassed rosiness. 

Somehow the day got better.

**The Petty Bitch**

Steve Harrington was ignoring Billy. And that just would not do. 

Billy leaned in and tried his best smile. “Butterscotch sundae, pretty please, Harrington.”

Heather’s eyebrows went up, but Billy didn’t have time for her judgement. 

“Anything else, sir?” Steve’s face was so blank Billy was actually impressed. Dead behind the eyes, devoid of any emotion, even the customer service grimace was gone. What the hell kind of talent was that? Even his coworker seemed taken aback, her gaze curious as it darted from Steve to Billy and back again. Every once in awhile she’d get caught on Heather and her own freckled face would flush. 

Billy frowned at the neutrality, the way Steve gave him so little to work with, and hooked his thumb at Heather. 

She stepped forward with a suspicious look for Billy and a polite smile for Steve. “Hey, Steve.”

“Oh, hey, Heather!” And then Steve was smiling wide and saying a peppy, “Ahoy there. What can I get for you?”

What. The. Fuck. 

“A double scoop of rocky road, please,” Heather laughed, side eyeing Billy’s furious expression. 

“Nice, that’s Robin’s favorite,” Steve tossed out casually as he rang up their orders. 

“I…like it,” the girl, Robin, said haltingly, eyes like a startled deer. She stared right at Heather and barely blinked. 

Steve blinked too much, bemused expression clouding his eyes as he looked between the two women. “Mind finishing the transaction and scooping the rocky road while I get her the sundae?”

“The sundae’s for me,” Billy reminded him, maybe a little bit petulantly. Maybe. Ok. He just didn’t like being ignored, alright? Fuck. 

Steve ignored him anyway and turned to the sundae bar, doing his job with movements that already seemed practiced. Billy paid the girl hardly any attention even as he slipped her the cash for their ice cream.

The sundae was slid in Billy’s vague direction without another word. 

“Thanks, guys,” Heather tacked on, already stuffing her spoon in her mouth. 

The girl stared some more. “Um, yeah, totally. Come again!”

“Bye, Heather!” Steve didn’t even look at Billy, already greeting the next customer after a cheery wave for Heather. 

Seriously. 

Billy shoved enough butterscotch sundae into his mouth to keep from swearing out loud.

“Wow,” Heather laughed, settling comfortably into their small booth. “Someone’s not a fan of the infamous Billy Hargrove.”

“Shut up,” Billy grumbled. 

“Steve is never like that,” Heather kept talking through spoonfuls of rocky road. “Ever. Like his face is normally so obvious! You can always tell when he’s happy or sad or annoyed or spacing out or whatever. Always. What the hell did you do to him?”

“Nothing.”

“Are you the one who messed up his face?” 

Billy flinched. And based on her suddenly solemn expression, Heather knew exactly what that meant. 

“I won’t pretend to know what you dumbasses fought about,” Heather told him with a sigh. “But Steve’s not a bad guy, a little dumb. But not, like, bad. So…maybe don’t do that again?”

“I wasn’t planning to!” Billy snarled, shoving the rest of his sundae to the side. 

A bit of it spilled over the glass dish.

Heather leveled him with an unimpressed and unmoved glower. “I like you, Billy. I do. But that’s so not cute. You should work on that too.”

Billy crossed his arms and looked off to the side. “Yeah…” 

She had a point. 

Steve was still being a little bitch though. 

**The Maybe Not So Straight Stoner**

Billy was on a mission. 

Heather wanted to get high, her group of friends had a falling out with the person who usually supplied them, and Billy owed her a favor or two for dragging her along with him to Scoops Ahoy at least twice a week for the last three weeks. Billy wasn’t keeping track. 

Eventually Billy got the name of a guy from Tommy and dodged any inquiries about why he needed a dealer. Tommy was obviously fishing for an invite to whatever party Billy needed weed for and, honestly, Billy didn’t have any time for that shit. Tommy was a useful friend in the school year, a valuable ally for taking power. But school was out and Billy didn’t need a sycophantic friend who would turn on him as soon as he didn’t do the fastest keg stand or roast the losers quick enough. 

So Billy found himself alone at the nearest community college, looking around for the guy who fit Tommy’s description. Apparently the guy was a fan of bright blue and black flannel. Which was certainly a choice. He could also apparently be found in a small clearing just off campus if he wasn’t surrounded by fellow students outside the woodshop.

The campus was kind of loose, lots of ground to cover. A few of the female students shot him admiring looks and waved. It seemed only right to wink back at them, flirtatious smirk firmly in place. Eventually Billy gave the campus proper up as a lost cause and strolled his way out into the trees. 

Some of the coeds were studying out in the woods and shot him weird looks, no doubt annoyed by the interruption. Thinking it might be best to give up and beg Heather for forgiveness, Billy was about to turn around and head back to his car when he heard voices. 

The soft, susurrus voices were almost lost to the ambient noise of the woods and the distant shouts of students over at the campus. Billy lightened his steps and kept his ears pricked as he moved closer to two shapes sitting on a fallen tree.

A light breeze carried the pungent and unmistakable scent of marijuana smoke through the trees.

“Hey,” came a deep voice, slow and steady. “You and that preppy girl broke up for good, right?”

“Nancy, man, her name is Nancy.”

Billy immediately hid himself behind a tree and peeped around the trunk, barely breathing. He didn’t want to risk Steve hearing his approach.

“Whatever,” the other man sighed. Billy didn’t have the best view of the two, getting only a few branch obscured glimpses of their profiles. He did, however, see a particularly garish shade of blue flannel on the long haired blond figure that passed Steve a joint. “You guys together again or what?”

“Nah,” Steve told him, not sounding particularly bothered. There was a moment of silence. 

“Want to make out then?” 

Steve choked on his smoke, sputtering enough that Billy’s own strangled reaction was covered up nicely. 

“What the fuck, dude, don’t ask that while I’m smoking!”

“Is that a no?” The man seemed put out. 

“No, it’s not a fucking no,” Steve told him hotly. 

“Oh.” There was a loaded pause as Billy and the other guy registered what Steve said. “Oh!”

“God, I’m about to make out with the one guy dumber than me,” Steve grumbled, pinching off the joint and setting it behind the guy’s ear. And then he was putting his hands on the guy’s face and pulling him in for a kiss that lasted…way too long. 

Billy’s heart hammered in his chest, excitement and hope warring with rage and jealousy. His stomach turned over and over again, the maelstrom of emotions doing nothing for his sense of stability.

“Jesus,” the guy breathed as Steve straddled him, keeping a shaky balance on the log where they sat. “Hey, you want an extra couple of joints?”

Steve pulled away and Billy could see enough of his scrunched up nose and furrowed brow to tell he was offended. “Dude. I’m not a prostitute. I’m making out with you because I’m high and kind of horny and you’re hot, not to get paid in weed.”

“I know, I know,” the guy tried for conciliatory, chewing his way up Steve’s far too gorgeous neck. Billy’s hands clenched into furious fists. “I had a few extras. I normally give them to my girl but we broke up yesterday.”

“I’m not your girlfriend,” Steve told him, breathy and absentminded. 

“You could be my boyfriend,” the guy suggested, just as distracted as Steve. His hands started to rove. Billy wanted to break those fucking hands. 

“If I get a boyfriend, it’s not going to be my weed dealer who just broke up with his girlfriend.”

“Fine, fine.”

They seemed pretty done with talking and Billy was a hair's breadth away from jealousy driven homicide so he snuck away from their secluded spot, careful not to draw attention. 

Unable to simply let it go, Billy sat in the driver seat and stared harshly out the windshield. 

**Generous But Awkward**

It was only twenty minutes later that Steve came strolling into the parking lot, looking like he hadn’t just been hooking up with his weed dealer. His lips were a little red though and Billy was torn between admiring the effect and screaming his wrath at not being the one to cause it. 

“Hey, Harrington!” Billy’s window was down and he was shouting out to the other boy before his brain caught up with the actions. 

Steve stumbled to a stop, his easy gait turned disjointed and defensive. “What do you want, Billy?”

“Found out there was a dealer here. Heather wanted a little something for her and her friends,” Billy told him honestly. “You know where he is?”

Steve coughed, ducked his head, and ran a hand up the back of his head, pushing his hair up at odd angles. It fell back perfectly into shape. “Oh, uh, yeah. Just out there.”

Billy watched Steve’s hand wave vaguely in the direction of the woods before Steve was turning away from Billy and towards where his own car was parked.

“Great,” Billy told him shortly, unhappiness settling like cold oil in his gut. “Thanks.”

Steve paused at that. He took a deep breath and chewed on his bottom lip, uncertainty in the set of his jaw and etched into the furrow between his eyebrows. He fidgeted noticeably, fingers tapping at his thigh. 

“Actually, you know what, here.” Steve walked over and handed Billy a crumpled pack of cigarettes. 

Ignoring the way the cool tips of Steve’s fingers brushed against his own, Billy gave the pack a quick examination and saw a few expertly rolled joints nestled in amongst the regular cigarettes. 

“Seriously?” Billy asked, at a loss. 

“Sure, why not?” Hunching his shoulders awkwardly, Steve made to leave again. 

“I can pay,” Billy offered. 

“It’s fine,” Steve dismissed with a shake of his head. “I got a few freebies anyway.”

Billy stared at the reminder of what he’d seen. 

“And if it’s for Heather,” Steve tried again, clearing his throat. “All good.”

“Thanks,” Billy managed dumbly. He blinked up at the increasingly uncomfortable looking boy next to his car. “Really.”

“Don’t worry about it,” Steve mumbled and waved. He jogged off, not looking back. 

Billy watched him until the taillights of his car were completely out of sight.

**The Friend**

A new day and age had begun. 

Billy saw that nothing left Steve more flustered than being treated nicely. So he decided to treat him as nice as Billy Hargrove was capable of treating someone. And not just the fake nice Billy so excelled at, but real nice.

“Hey, Princess, cute shorts,” Billy told Steve with a smirk, leaning closer to the counter.

It still wasn’t that nice. 

But Steve seemed to be responding to it. 

“Great blouse, forget to return it to Mrs. Wheeler?” Steve shot back, eyebrows raised in faux innocence. 

“Jealous?” Billy asked wolfishly. He toned it down at the arch look Robin directed his way. “What’s good?”

“It’s ice cream,” Steve told him blandly. “It’s all good.”

Rolling his eyes, Billy managed a not entirely douchey sounding, “Surprise me, then.”

“One cyanide laced sundae it is,” Steve saluted, a faint smile on his face. 

“Where’s Heather?” Robin asked, looking not nearly as nonchalant as she probably thought. “Normally you guys come in together so…”

“She’s got some kind of dinner with her family,” Billy shrugged. 

“Oh.”

“Tell her we miss her,” Steve said with a not so subtle look towards Robin. “Next cup of rocky road is on us.”

“Will do,” Billy informed them, eyes searching both their faces for some kind of indication of what it all meant. He had his suspicions. 

Robin’s flushed face all but confirmed it. 

Steve slid a butterscotch sundae towards Billy, rainbow sprinkles melting a variety of colors into the whipped cream. The cherry slid off to the side, leaving behind a sharp streak of candy red. 

“I’ve never ordered it with rainbow sprinkles,” Billy pointed out.

“That’s the surprise,” Steve winked. 

Yeah. Billy was fucked. 

**Done With This Shit**

“Holy fucking shit,” Billy whispered feelingly, lowering his axe. He stared at the car that had been thrown into a bunch of fucking gunmen at the mall. 

People talked around him, things were being said, Russians were mentioned because of coure, Steve’s beautiful face was busted again which was an atrocity, Robin seemed to be the only one as confused and freaked out as him, and a child had telepathically thrown a car at _a bunch of fucking gunmen at the mall_ and now she was collapsing and screaming and what the actual fuck came out of her leg?!

“Billy,” Steve called, face solemn. “What are you doing here? Are you ok?”

“My dad tried to kidnap Heather,” Billy wheezed. “And then there was all this other shit. Max and her friends trapped me in the sauna. What the fuck, Steve? What the fuck?!”

Blinking slowly, Steve pursed his lips. An apologetic frown creased his forehead and the edges of his mouth. “Ok, that’s all _horrible_ and I promise we can talk about that later, but we don’t have time for that right now.”

And they really, really didn’t. 

**Ride or Die**

“My car,” Billy muttered, stunned as he stared at the figure revving his car’s engine. “My possessed dad stole my car.”

Robin looked like she was about to throw up and Steve had a steely glint in his eyes. 

“Your dad sucks,” Steve said matter of factly. Then he slammed his foot down on the gas. 

Even as they crashed directly and purposefully into Billy’s baby, Billy had to agree. 

**A Shoulder to Cry On**

The mall came down, the husk of Billy’s piece of shit father along with it. The creature that controlled him made an unholy sort of noise that Billy could still feel in his teeth. Chief Hopper was gone. The place was a smoking mess. 

Billy felt the tears falling before he registered that they’d even formed. 

“Hey, hey hey hey,” Steve called, calm and kind and offering the sort of comfort Billy didn’t think he deserved. Lean, strong arms pulled him into an embrace. “It’s gonna be alright. I know this is all crazy, but it’s going to be alright.”

Billy stood there, hollow and wrong, until the feeling of a gentle hand on his back and soothing words in Steve’s familiar voice helped him claw back into himself. 

Billy’s arms tightened around a slim but solid waist. He tucked his tearstained and soot streaked face into Steve’s warm shoulder and breathed in. 

**The Betting Man**

Steve’s vest looked ridiculously good on him, Billy realized with a flash of lust. And the jeans were more than a little flattering. 

He still missed the Scoops shorts though.

Steve was at the far end of the video store parking lot, sitting on the back bumper of his car while Robin drank a soda next to him. They were talking idly, probably on break, and Billy walked closer, surprised they hadn’t noticed him yet. Although maybe it made sense, his new car didn’t have quite the same engine and it certainly made less of an impactful entrance. 

He caught his name being shared between the two and froze, brain pausing in its thought process entirely. His thoughts restarted with a shudder as he remembered the last time he eavesdropped on Steve. Anticipation warred with guilt and just a little bit of jealousy. 

“He does not,” Steve told Robin dismissively. 

“Oh, he so totally does,” Robin snorted, setting her Coke can on the back of Steve’s car. “Even Heather thinks so.”

Sarcasm dripped from Steve’s lips. “Well, if Heather thinks so.”

“Shut up, she’s really smart,” Robin defended. And she was right, Billy acknowledged. 

“I know she is,” Steve told her patiently. “Doesn’t mean she’s always right.”

“She’s right about this one.” Robin crossed her arms and leaned into Steve’s side, comfortable and casual. “Billy is so into you.”

Well, shit. Yeah, he fucking was. But still, having Robin call him out on it was just a bit shitty. 

“No, he’s really not,” Steve denied with a shake of his head. His hair bounced. “We’re…friends. I guess.”

“Friends don’t stare at friend’s asses half so much.”

Ah, fuck. He’d been caught. 

“That was one time!”

Or maybe not? A flutter of hope swelled in Billy’s gut. 

“There were many, many times,” Robin corrected. “And he came to see you like twice a week when we were at Scoops.”

“So he likes ice cream. Everyone likes ice cream.”

“He flirted with you a disgusting amount. I’m talking pet names, winks, smirks, the whole shebang.”

“That’s just Billy being Billy. That’s how he is.”

“God, you’re so far in denial,” Robin scoffed. 

And yes, yes Steve was. 

Billy chewed on the best way to enter the picture. He’d come over to flirt with Steve, see how he was doing, maybe invite him over to another movie night since Max and her mom invited all those weird ass kids over and he was kind of expected to keep an eye on them. Make sure they didn’t set themselves on fire. Or run into more monsters and government conspiracies. And Billy aways preferred dealing with the kids when Steve was there to deal with them too. 

Now he would be walking into a conversation he was most definitely not meant to hear and he was feeling…awkward about it. 

Then Robin piped up, sly and self-satisfied, “Wanna bet on it?”

Steve made an interested noise in the back of his throat. “What kind of bet?”

“How about…if I’m wrong, which I am not, I’ll ask Heather out.”

Billy’s eyebrows rose at that. Heather would be getting some good news soon. If Robin didn’t bite the bullet, Billy was absolutely going to get Heather to make a move. 

“If I’m right, which I am,” Robin continued. “You have to go out with Billy.”

Stomach tight with emotion and heart caught in his throat, Billy waited on the answer with bated breath. 

“How can you confirm whether or not he likes me?” Steve dodged with a fairly decent question, Billy had to admit. “I won’t believe your brilliant powers of observation.”

“I’ll find a way even if I have to make him tell you myself.”

Billy didn’t love the sinister sound to that. 

“You know what? Sure,” Steve agreed, sending Billy’s heart into overdrive. “I’ll take your bet. Hell, I’ll do you one better. If you can get Billy Hargrove to tell me he likes me, I won’t just go out with him. I will also suck his dick. Screw waiting for the third date. I’ll be on my knees, going down on Billy Hargrove. Who absolutely doesn’t like me and thus will never know the great eagerness and slight skill my mouth possesses.”

Robin burst out laughing. “Jesus Christ, Steve!”

Holy. Fucking. Shit. 

Unable to just stand there and listen any longer, Billy ran up to them and declared, “I like you. It’s actually super stupid how much I like you and it pisses me off most days.”

Steve and Robin gawked at him, mouths dropped open and eyes round with disbelief and shock. 

Billy’s breaths came deep and quick like he ran a mile, his exposed chest heaving. For once he felt a little self-conscious about the deepness of his neckline. 

“Oh my god,” Robin exclaimed when she finally managed to form words. 

“When the fuck did you get here?” Steve screeched, taking in Billy’s less than composed appearance. 

His gaze lingered on Billy’s chest and all self-consciousness evaporated. Making a conscious effort to even out his breathing, Billy tried for a smirk, though he probably managed a nervous half smile at best. 

“Unimportant,” Robin cut across with a sharp click of her tongue, recovered from her surprise. She looked Billy dead in the eyes. “Our lunch ended five minutes ago and we have to go. He’ll pick you up at eight.”

Steve’s demand came in high pitched and panicked, “What?!”

“We literally just bet on this, dingus,” Robin muttered commandingly. “Eight o’clock.”

“Yup, I can do eight,” Billy agreed at once. Max’s mom would be home by then to watch Max and company. And he’d be free to pursue other more pressing interests. 

“Nice.” Robin nodded with finality, grabbing a still incoherent and shell shocked Steve. She dragged him by the wrist towards the video store and gave Billy a thumbs up, bracelets jangling from the motion. 

“Ask Heather,” Billy shouted in gratitude. “You won’t regret it.”

Her face flushed and a pleased smile curled the edges of her lips. 

**The Backseat Mozart**

So. 

Steve was right about the eagerness. 

But he greatly undersold himself on the skill. 

Which Billy discovered in the back of Steve Harrington’s car, one leg thrown over the driver’s seat, the other hooked over Steve’s shoulder, and Steve Harrington himself crouched between the two of them.

“Wait,” Billy gasped, hand flailing out to slap the fogged up rear windshield. His toes curled, the direct result of a wicked twist from Steve’s tongue. “Steve, fuck, wait wait wait.”

“What? What’s wrong?” Steve panted over the jut of Billy’s hip, mouth red and wet. He met Billy’s gaze, eyes dark, and licked his lips. 

Billy forced his brain to focus on the words he wanted to say even as he filed that image in his memory to be cherished for the rest of forever.

“You need to get a different weed dealer,” Billy told him, finally, finally voicing the thing that had been bothering him since that day at the community college.

“Are you kidding me right now?” Steve demanded, eyebrows quirked. 

“No, I’m serious,” Billy admitted. “I’ll fight him.”

“Oh my god,” Steve told Billy’s stomach. 

“Ok, that was it.” Billy prompted Steve to continue with a quick nod. 

“Why do I like you? You’re such an asshole,” Steve laughed, a genuine sound that spread warmth through Billy’s chest like honey in hot tea. 

And then Steve’s head was bowed and his mouth was back to work and Billy didn’t have any more talking to do, not unless he counted shouts and grunts of Steve’s name mixed in with a healthy dose of fucks. 

**The Boyfriend**

They sat together on the hood of the car, a cigarette passed back and forth between them. The doors were wide open, a valiant attempt to air out the smell of sex and defog the windows. 

“You know, I’m not any happier about this than you are,” Billy told Steve, blowing out a thick curl of smoke before handing it off to Steve. 

He worried his comment might not have come across as teasing as he meant it, but Steve huffed a laugh and the concern faded. Their fingers touched as Steve accepted the smoke. 

“Really,” Steve hummed. His mouth formed a smug grin. “Because you seemed pretty happy about it.”

Billy coughed, darting his eyes away, as bashful as he’d ever been. “Yeah, maybe.”

Steve chuckled and looked up. The blue-silver light of the moon looked good on him, artistically shading him in shadow. “Yeah, better be.”

Throwing his head back, Billy glowered at the night sky, regarding it a little less fondly than Steve did. “You make me want to make a mixtape. Do you know how embarrassing that is?”

“I just blew you in the back of my car, I think you can learn to deal,” Steve told him dryly, passing him back the cigarette. 

“Probably,” Billy allowed on an inhale. 

They finished the cigarette in comfortable silence. 

A chill breeze raked through the trees and Steve shivered. Billy took off his leather jacket and draped it over Steve’s shoulders, refusing to meet his questioning, doe eyed gaze. 

“Not a fucking word,” Billy ordered, voice low and rough like gravel pouring from the back of a truck. 

Beaming wide and bright, Steve slipped his arms through the sleeves. His tone was teasing and affectionate and something cracked open in Billy’s chest when he said, “I really want you to make me a mixtape.”

“Fine,” Billy allowed, shrugging his shoulders like it didn’t matter to him. It really, really fucking mattered to him. His heart beat too fast while his stomach dropped in the best way. 

“Are you a flowers and chocolates guy?” Steve wondered, nudging Billy with his elbow. “Or should I win you a teddy bear?”

“None of that romantic shit. Stick to blowing me in the back of your car,” Billy growled, face heating. He thanked Christ for the darkness of night. 

“Nah,” Steve told him with a grin. “I can do both.”

Billy ducked his head to hide his own besotted smile. 

He barely even cared if Steve saw it. 

**Author's Note:**

> Dustin: I forbid this.  
> Steve: That’s not...a thing you can do.  
> Dustin: Too late because it’s forbidden! Break up with him now!  
> Billy: Let me hit this one kid. Just once. I won’t even do it hard.  
> Steve, looking between the two: No and absolutely fucking not.  
> Dustin and Billy, simultaneously: BUT STEVE!!!  
> Dustin: ...  
> Billy: ...  
> Steve: Never do that again. Never.


End file.
